with me catching up to technology, i've been ripping my cd's onto my pc (at a high bps rate, natch) and transfering them onto my phone. i also took the opportunity to get other music i respected but never thought to purchase. rem, tom petty, paul simon and springsteen.

here is my thoughts on bruce...at least his first two albums. his first, greetings from...was sort of folky with a bit of electric instruments (think dylan) backing him up. on it are blinded by the light...and...for you...better known, maybe, by manfred mann. but the standout track is lost in the flood.

his second, the wild, the innocent and the e-street shuffle...is a masterpiece. released in (maybe) the same year...his band grew, musically, by leaps and bounds. not only a great album...but maybe an all time great album.

who knew...this springsteen fellow just might be worth some of the hype. i've been in more than a few musical debates regarding the best american songwriter. i usually find myself siding with paul simon. i now have to consider changing my position...

I want to tell her that I love her a lot, but I got to get a belly full of wine.

ef, you are right. of course you are right. however...he is in the discussion by reputation only for me. i do respect him. and i recognize what he's done. and he is deserving of all of the accolades. but i don't own any of his music. not sure i could listen to an entire ambum of that voice.

but i own a bunch of paul simon. so i can speak of his music with first hand knowledge. and i've always respected springsteen...but not until now am i willing to include him in this conversation because now i know his music with some more detail.

I want to tell her that I love her a lot, but I got to get a belly full of wine.

chris wrote:ef, you are right. of course you are right. however...he is in the discussion by reputation only for me. i do respect him. and i recognize what he's done. and he is deserving of all of the accolades. but i don't own any of his music. not sure i could listen to an entire ambum of that voice.

but i own a bunch of paul simon. so i can speak of his music with first hand knowledge. and i've always respected springsteen...but not until now am i willing to include him in this conversation because now i know his music with some more detail.

Chris, You must give Springsteen's Nebraska album a listen. Until I heard that album I never understood the hype. Also, even though it may not technically count as a "concept" album, The River is really one of the best ever made. And you are right first time I heard Lost in the Flood any doubt of his brilliance washed away.

Darkness is a great album too. Honestly you can't go wrong with Springsteen from his first album through Nebraska. I'm not a big fan of Born in the USA or most of his 80s work. His 2000s work has been pretty solid as well.

One for me is REM, early on my roommates were big fans and i resisted for some reason. Heard them all the time with two good friends that were hooked. Finally years later, as REM was turning mainstream I went to a show with my future wife and ended up going back and buying the old catalog and re-discovering them.

Have always loved Springsteen, had one of those same good friends that was a die-hard fan of the early stuff. My absolute favorite track though is his 9/11 benefit show version of "My City of Ruins". Blew me away and still does to this day when I hear it. Love albums that you can play top to bottom uninterrupted, Born to Run is one of those for me.

U2- back in '83 as a freshman in college had a buddy that listened a ton to War. We wore out (no pun intended) that cassette. Remained a fan but wasn't truly hooked until Achtung Baby came out. Saw them live on that tour. Great stuff prior that I enjoyed but wasn't hooked until AB. Top to bottom album for me.

mr h atom wrote:i get that...for all 3...AB is quite the record...heck, i even love zooropa

it is but with zooropa Bono went overboard in his self love and that started to visually take away from the music. There was a bit of that in achtung baby but I think it was ok with the attitude of the album. The Fly remains one of my favorite songs when I want to get the blood moving.